CONNECTING THROUGH STORY TELLING Nonprofit 101 Donor Experience 101 Bridget L. Brandt

HELLO! Bridget L. Brandt Donor Experience 101 #bridgetlbrandt I don’t know everything, but I’m usually right…and always funny! 

What we are going to do today… Learn why story telling matters Work together Create our story

1 Why do this?

Online Fundraising Bootcamp Why Stories? Stories create an emotional connection. Buy based on emotion. Rationalize it later with facts. -- Emotion opens the wallet www.NonprofitRD.com

WHY STORIES Because that is what donors want to hear. 80% want to hear about IMPACT 74% want to hear success stories 71% want to hear about organization 43% financial accountability -- A donate button is not going to do the job -- *** Infomercials – sponsor a child – get picture, letter, etc. Strong connection one on one!!! - Community Philanthropy 2.0 survey Nonprofit R+D - www.NonprofitRD.com

2 So let’s do something!

GREAT not good stories Charity Water--https://youtu.be/rphhfy4qCfc Simon Senik--https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPYeCltXpxw Nonprofit R+D - www.NonprofitRD.com

Why How What Why do we do this? Passion How do we do it? How are we successful? Share what makes you good. What do we do? What happens if we cease to exist?

TIPS of GREAT STORIES 1.  Stories should be about real people who need something, hopefully something that YOUR organization provides. 2.  Allow the person in your story to have a real name, age, and to speak for themselves. 3.  Minds wander, get real quickly. In about 4-10 seconds your listeners tune out if you haven’t grabbed them. Don’t tell me you are going to tell me a story about someone, just tell it. Start with the person’s name, age and a few descriptive words. 4.  Keep your story short. Six words to two minutes is the length I recommend. 5.  Allow your story to cause me to feel something. Anger, sadness, happiness, pride—it doesn’t matter what the emotion is, I just have to feel something. 6.  Your story should have a moment when people see themselves or someone in their own lives. Could be their aging parents, the daughter of the person who made their latte today or their own child. 7.  The best stories are told by the person themselves. Clients telling their own stories are the most moving way to share how your organization makes a difference.

ACTIVITY Build My Story Donor Experience 101 Bridget L. Brandt

Where will we get the stories? BUT

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